Comics: Ten Grand ~ Issue 7: And Then The War

Story by: J. Michael Straczynski

Illustrated by: C.P. Smith

Rated: M / Mature

Joe's Comics

Image Comics
(4/5 ★★★★☆)

(Cover A by C.P. Smith)

"Not all murder is evil...

In the right time, the right place, for the right reason - -

it can be a blessing more profound than any you can imagine." - Jehoel

The Plot:

Previously, Jehoel's escape from an eternity of imprisonment in the place of in-between heaven and hell had led to Joe's restoration of his memories.

In this issue, Joe and Jehoel continues to thread the path to the gates of hell. The very conflict between the light and evil may be bigger than Joe can imagine as he is told of The War. Joe finally reaches the gates of hell with more questions arising regarding whose side is playing on him and for what reason.

The Good:

This issue gives us a nice story of The Beginning, The War, The Fall and The Void. It was a nice take on the war between the good and evil. We were also given a scenery on what would happen to those who opted to question both sides.

There were two splash pages that were incredibly drawn by Smith. The first is the splash page that speaks of The Beginning. The picture was like an infinite cycle of baby angels. The next splash page was the one that shows The Unity, The War, The Fall and The Void. That splash page was really fantastic. It was really beautifully drawn as the happiness and the brightness of the page gets darker as you look down.

The story pulls us back on track of Joe's path to hell as he goes to save Laura.

The Bad:

Even though there are 2 splash pages that I like in this issue, the cover was not appropriate for me. I think that cover would have been more applicable if it was used in Issue #5 of Ten Grand.

I am still bothered by some of the illustrations made by Smith. Mostly these are regarding how Joe's ears were drawn. In some panels they were good. But for the rest, they were really weird. They were still drawn with the ear swelling like it caught a disease. It was just a good thing that Jehoel had long hair so his ears does not need to be drawn.

The Verdict:

The illustrations more or less becomes tolerable after the shock that we got from Issue #5. The story lifts itself once more after the dull moment in Issue #6.

It looks like we are nearing the issue wherein Ten Grand is going to drop the bomb any moment now. This is because of the suspense that is building up in this never ending war between good and evil. This is definitely an issue worth collecting. Mostly because of the two splash pages regarding The Beginning until The Fall of the angels. Straczynski has definitely led us in the middle ground of the great war.

Don't forget that great 4 page teaser at the end regarding Dream Police

"If we cannot win, we can at least deprive them of the victory." -Jehoel

More of Ten Grand can be seen at:

Joe's Comics: http://www.studiojms.com

Image Comics, Inc.: http://www.imagecomics.com